But look closer and there's a lot more to it than that. Throughout his life Britten was fascinated by what may be best termed as 'functional' music – 'I want my music to be of use to people', he said – and dance, of course, was a key part of that. In his operas he drew on the social purposes of dance almost as much as he drew on folk music: we see dance music used to give a sense of community in Peter Grimes, of ceremony in Gloriana, of rambunctious jollity in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

In his final opera, Death in Venice, dance becomes as much a part of the fabric of the work as singing. The beautiful young Tadzio, innocent object of ageing writer Aschenbach's impossible adoration, is cast as a dancer. His muteness and distant power, so clearly at a remove from the sung world of Aschenbach, come to represent not only in the essential futility of the older man's love, but also – in Aschenbach's fevered mind – the incarnation of physical freedom against the ordered rigidity of his own existence.

Brandstrup first worked with Britten's music in 1992, choreographing Death in Venice for Graham Vick's Royal Opera production. ‘Its elegiac tone has undoubtedly coloured the way I listen to all of his music', he says. Brandstrup finds this colouring in the relatively early work Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, which he has used for Ceremony of Innocence, created for the 2013 Aldeburgh Festival. ‘It demonstrates the lightness of touch and the ease of a brilliant young composer who had been a child prodigy, a boy wonder – yet at the centre of Variations is a Funeral March and the final music, at least to my ears, seems to have the same weight and tone as the end of Death in Venice.’

Wheeldon too has had a long affinity with Britten, after dancing with The Royal Ballet for Kenneth MacMillan's production of The Prince of the Pagodas in 1989. 'Since then I’ve choreographed Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge and also the Diversions for Piano (left hand) and Orchestra – twice'. In his Olivier Award-winning Aeternum he uses Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem, which Britten described in a letter as 'Combining my ideas on war & a memorial for Mum & Pop'. For Wheeldon, 'The music weaves in and out from the sombre repetitive churching of the “Lacrymosa” to this crazy, devilish second movement and then finally to the very beautiful, light-filled, off-to-a-better-place third movement' – a structure clearly reflected in Wheeldon's choreography.

Great choreographers before Brandstrup and Wheeldon have also been drawn to Britten’s music. John Cranko created the choreography for the original productions of Gloriana and The Prince of the Pagodas. Frederick Ashton choreographed the premiere of Death in Venice; his three one-act ballets to Britten include the fascinating Les Illuminations for New York City Ballet, an intriguing setting of Britten’s Rimbaud song cycle that includes a pierrot who dances with one foot bare and the other on pointe. MacMillan’s Britten works include Winter’s Eve (created for his then-mistress Nora Kaye), a version of Soirées musicales and Gloriana dances (which shocked Ashton with choreography that has Queen Elizabeth I flung about with MacMillan’s customary flair for daring lifts). And today choreographers such as David Bintley, Alastair Marriott and Liam Scarlett continue to find inspiration in his music.

The programme is given with generous philanthropic support from Richard and Delia Baker (Ceremony of Innocence) Simon and Virginia Robertson, Kenneth and Susan Green, Karl and Holly Peterson, The Age of Anxiety Production Syndicate, the Friends of Covent Garden and an anonymous donor (The Age of Anxiety) and The Royal Opera House Endowment Fund.

Encountering YouthKim Brandstrup created his Ceremony of Innocence for Royal Ballet dancers at the Aldeburgh Festival in Benjamin Britten’s centenary year. The ballet tracks an imagined meeting between a man and his childhood self, through which Brandstrup examines the impact of the passing of youth and innocence. His choreography seeks to capture the artistic conflict of striving to ‘re-create what is missing, lost, absent, not there anymore'.

Brandstrup and BrittenBrandstrup used Britten’s Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, a relatively early work and often considered his arrival into maturity as a composer. Brandstrup first choreographed to Britten’s music for a 1992 production of Death in Venice, his final opera. Though the pieces are from opposite ends of Britten’s output, Brandstrup identifies strong musical and thematic links between Death in Venice and Variations, of loss and longing for youth – which are reflected in Ceremony of Innocence.

'We Would Rather Be Ruined Than Changed'The Age of Anxiety is Royal Ballet Artist in Residence Liam Scarlett’s second narrative work for the Royal Opera House main stage. His starting point was Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony no.2, ‘The Age of Anxiety’, which itself was inspired by W.H. Auden’s 1947 poem of the same name. Scarlett’s ballet follows Auden’s four protagonists on an evening of drunken excesses, as they search for identity in an evolving world.

Inspired CreationFor Scarlett, dancers play a central role in the creation and interpretation of his choreography – he says that 'Making a ballet is all about specific dancers'. For Age of Anxiety he has selected two small casts that include performers from across the ranks of The Royal Ballet. He’s tailored his selection to fit Auden's characters, who are 'fairly defined in terms of substance and background', while at the same time encouraging the dancers to allow their roles to 'come from within'.

Sinfonia da RequiemLike Brandstrup, Christopher Wheeldon has a longstanding affinity with the music of Britten. He first fell in love with Britten’s music early in his career, dancing with The Royal Ballet as Kenneth MacMillan created his version of The Prince of the Pagodas. For Aeternum, he selected the composer’s Sinfonia da Requiem– a harrowing memorial symphony to Britten’s parents, and a cry against the horrors of war. Taking his inspiration from the score, Wheeldon’s ballet addresses the fear, terror and pain of loss, but ends with a sense of optimism to match what he describes as the 'light-filled' final movement.

Building a BattlefieldWheeldon's choice of designer for Aeternum was regular collaborator Jean-Marc Puissant, who for Wheeldon 'always brings an interesting modern look and contemporary sensibility to his designs'. Puissant's striking, abstract setting for Aeternum, built around a towering, mobile wooden structure, provides the perfect setting for Wheeldon's vivid choreography. The ballet won the 2013 Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production.

The Royal Ballet's mixed programme of Ceremony of Innocence, Age of Anxiety and Aeternum runs 7–17 November 2014. Tickets are still available.

The programme is given with generous philanthropic support from Richard and Delia Baker (Ceremony of Innocence) Simon and Virginia Robertson, Kenneth and Susan Green, Karl and Holly Peterson, The Age of Anxiety Production Syndicate, the Friends of Covent Garden and an anonymous donor (The Age of Anxiety) and The Royal Opera House Endowment Fund.

Danish-born, Britain-based choreographer Kim Brandstrup is in constant demand as a dance-maker, across a variety of media. His early training in film at the University of Copenhagen has yielded a choreographic approach striking for its powerful narrative style and sensitive depictions of characters and their relationships.

Goldberg was Brandstrup’s second work for the Linbury Studio Theatre. Created in 2009 in response to Tamara Rojo’s request for ‘something different’, Brandstrup used J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations as the foundation for a piece that takes as its inspiration the fleeting moments of variation in the rehearsal room. Drawing together different approaches and styles of dance in this intimate context, the award-winning Goldberg is ‘a beautiful, grown-up piece of fine musical feeling and drama’ (Ismene Brown, Arts Desk).

Invitus Invitam

Created for the Royal Ballet in 2010, Invitus Invitam is a four-minute ballet of three anguished, passionate duets, set to Thomas Adès’s Three Studies from Couperin. The work was widely acclaimed at its premiere and was nominated for the 2011 Critics’ Circle Award for Best Classical Choreography. In this video Brandstrup explores his inspirations for this ballet ‘about a reluctant parting of two lovers’, which range from Racine to a depiction of the ‘feeling of how theatre is made’.

Brandstrup has a longstanding association with Benjamin Britten’s opera Death in Venice, describing it as ‘the piece I’ve revisited most frequently’. He first worked on the piece in a 1992 production for the Royal Opera House, and in 2007 choreographed this celebrated production for English National Opera, directed by Deborah Warner. Brandstrup’s responses to the opera’s elegiac tone and themes of lost and corrupted youth have had a powerful impact upon his subsequent interpretations of Britten’s music, including Ceremony of Innocence.

Leda and the Swan

Among Brandstrup’s most recent projects is his film Leda and the Swan, which was created for The Royal Ballet’s Deloitte Ignite 14. Inspired by the eponymous Greek myth, the film stars Royal Ballet Principal Zenaida Yanowsky, Swedish dancer Tommy Franzen and actor Fiona Shaw. Brandstrup described the work as venturing ‘into the shady territory between power and submission, active and passive, masculine and feminine’.

The mixed programme is given with generous philanthropic support from Richard and Delia Baker (Ceremony of Innocence), Simon and Virginia Robertson, Kenneth and Susan Green, Karl and Holly Peterson, The Age of Anxiety Production Syndicate, the Friends of Covent Garden and an anonymous donor (The Age of Anxiety) and The Royal Opera House Endowment Fund.

The programme combines dance and visual art in a modern exploration of ancient myths through performance and film. It will feature a special commission from Turner Prize-winning artist Chris Ofili and choreographer Aakash Odedra based on the myth of Prometheus. Extracts will also be performed from Mikhail Fokine’s The Firebird and The Dying Swan; Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake; George Balanchine’s Apollo; and Wayne McGregor’s Raven Girl. Viewers will also be treated to the world premiere of a new piece by Rambert’s Miguel Altunaga. Also being screened as part of the event are three short dance films created by the National Ballet of Canada’s Robert Binet, rising choreographic talent Charlotte Edmonds, and internationally renowned choreographer Kim Brandstrup.

Watch Aakash Odedra rehearsing his new piece with Royal Ballet dancers:

Deloitte Ignite, curated by The Royal Ballet with the National Gallery's Minna Moore Ede, runs 5–28 September 2014 and includes a wide range of free and paying events. Tickets are still available.